What ive learnt about... CARROTS
It’s deeply satisfying growing your own carrots, and one of the tricks is timing, writes MILLIE ROSS
Carrots are the crop to get the gardener’s eye in for the season ahead. They’re always best sown in the perfect week, but you won’t find that week on a calendar; you have to read the conditions instead! Consistent moisture and warm soil are what you’re looking for. In my cold climate, in the Central Highlands of Victoria, that’s usually late September to mid December. I wait for a warm and rainy week, then get out in the garden, muttering to myself excitedly, “It’s root crop week!”
While I have played with many heirloom carrot varieties over the years, I rely on a couple of old favourites – Chantenay
Red Cored, which is a robust, large root, and Nantes, which is ever reliable.
Carrot seeds need consistent moisture during germination so I cover the area with a piece of hessian after sowing. Keep this moist for the first week, then check each morning for germination. Once seedlings appear, remove it to let the light in.
I sow two or three times over spring. In warm temperate areas, sowing again in February will keep you in carrots over the cooler months; in tropical and subtropical zones, autumn to early spring is the best time to sow. In our heavy basalt clay, they don’t store well in the ground over winter when it’s cold and wet, so whatever hasn’t been eaten by mid-autumn (or pinched by Squid, the carrot-stealing dog!) is then lifted and preserved as a carrot version of kimchi, the spicy Korean condiment.
Weeds are one of the biggest challenges to a germinating carrot crop. I torch the area with a flame-weeder seven days after sowing – a method used by market gardeners. At that stage, the carrots haven’t germinated, but many of the weeds are growing and can be wiped out. Of course, handweeding is also an option!
Thin plants after 2–3 weeks, and again when they’re about 10cm high. While you can spend hours on your knees carefully removing unwanted carrots, I find a pair of scissors saves time and does a cleaner job.
Carrots are also worth growing for their huge umbels of beneficial bug-attracting blooms. I once let a purple-skinned variety flower, which resulted in unique, dusky pink blooms. I saved the seeds and grew them the following year… just for the flower display! There are few things more satisfying than pulling up a home-grown carrot, so this spring, get your eye in, read the conditions and give it a go!